1639, 2911 ESTONIA (Pärnu) - Kihnu cultural space (UNESCO ICH)

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Posted on 08.06.2015, 20.12.2016
Lying off Estonia's Baltic coast, the small islands of Kihnu and Manija are home to a community of 600 people whose cultural expressions and agricultural traditions have been kept alive over the centuries largely through the island's female population. Their geographic isolation, their strong sense of community spirit and their steadfast attachment to the customs of their ancestors have enabled the Kihnu people to preserve their crafts and customs. Today, Kihnu culture is threatened by economic hardship, uncontrolled housing development and the intrusion of tourists insensitive to the islands' traditions and natural environment.

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Singing is an integral part of collective handicraft activities and of religious celebrations. Particularly noteworthy among the musical repertory of the islanders is an oral tradition of pre-Christian origin, known as runic or Kalevala-metre songs. But the most visible emblem of Kihnu culture remains the woolen handicrafts worn by the women. Working using traditional looms and local wool, the women weave and knit mittens, stockings, skirts and blouses, which often feature bright colours, vivid stripes and intricate embroidery. Many of the symbolic forms and colours adorning these garments are rooted in ancient legends.

2345 ESTONIA - The map of the country

Estonia is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe, bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Russia. With a population of 1.3 million, it is one of the least-populous member states of the European Union. Ethnic Estonians are Finnic people, and the official language, Estonian, is a Finno-Ugric language closely related to Finnish. It is a developed country with an advanced, high-income economy and high living standards. The capital and its largest city is Tallinn

2092 Struve Geodetic Arc (UNESCO WHS)

The Struve Geodetic Arc is a chain of survey triangulations stretching from Hammerfest in Norway to the Black Sea, through ten countries and over 2,820 km, which yielded the first accurate measurement of a meridian. It was established and used by the German-born Russian scientist Friedrich Georg Wilhelm von Struve (1793-1864) in the years 1816 to 1855 to establish the exact size and shape of the earth. At that time, the chain passed merely through two countries: Union of Sweden-Norway and the Russian Empire.

1011 ESTONIA (Saare) - Traditional clothes in Jämaja

Estonians are a Finnic people and have strong ties to the Nordic countries, stemming from important cultural and religious influences gained over centuries during Scandinavian and German rule and settlement. Even so, Estonian traditional costumes have a lot in common with the ones of Latvians and Lithuanians, and are divided into four main groups, which have their origins to the ancient tribal differences: Southern, Northern, Western Estonia, and the Islands. On the other hand, as in many other ethnic groups, both everyday and festive clothing constitute a complicated system of signs, referring to the wearer’s national belonging, social status, age and marital status. Actually today each parish has its own traditional clothing, developed between 17th and 19th centuries.

0306, 0517 ESTONIA (Harju) - Historic Centre of Tallinn (UNESCO WHS)

0306 Historic Centre of Tallinn (1)

Posted on 12.08.2012, 22.02.2013
Closely related to the Finns, the neighbors to the north, from beyond the Gulf of Finland, and not to Balts from the south or to Russians from the east, Estonians consider their country a "distinct Nordic country", and not a Baltic one, although geographically belongs to the Baltic region. Despite the fact that they were always least numerous (in nowadays living in Estonia just over 1 million speakers of Estonian), and their lands were, for centuries, a battleground for Denmark, Germany, Russia, Sweden and Poland, the estonians preserved their national identity. In addition, perhaps because it was the last corner of Europe Christianized (in 12th and 13th centuries, following the Baltic Crusades), Estonia is one of the least religious countries in the world, with 75.7% of the population claiming to be irreligious.

0517 Historic Centre of Tallinn (2)

Tallinn, known as Reval from the 13th century until the 1920s and located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, 80km south of Helsinki, is the capital and largest city of Estonia. Although has only about 400,000 inhabitants, it's ranked as a global city and has been listed among the top 10 digital cities in the world. As an important port for trade between Russian principalities and Scandinavia, it became a target for the Teutonic Knights and the Kingdom of Denmark in the beginning of the 13th century, being annexed by Danes in 1219, along with Northern Estonia. In 1285 the city became the northernmost member of the Hanseatic League, and in 1346 was sold to the Teutonic Knights. In 1561 Tallinn became a dominion of Sweden, which it lost in favor of Russia in 1710. Estonia gained its independence in 1920, but in 1940 was annexed by the Soviet Union, then by Nazi Germany in 1941, and again by the Soviet Union in 1944. In August 1991 was re-established an independent democratic Estonian state.

0470 Baltic Sea map

Bounded by the Scandinavian Peninsula, the mainland of Europe, and the Danish islands, Baltic Sea is a brackish sea, mostly enclosed, which has a limited exchange of water with outer oceans. Is connected to the Atlantic Ocean via Kattegat, Skagerrak and North Sea, but also by man-made waterways to the White Sea via the White Sea Canal, and to the North Sea via the Kiel Canal. It has 1,600 km long, an average of 193 km wide, and an average of 55 m deep, with the maximum depth 459 m.